' … laudatory study of [KKR] by two business-school professors, one an economist by training the other an historian. From its formation in 1976, the firm of Jerome Kohlberg, Henry Kravis and George Roberts grew to control 59 billion dollars of assets in 35 companies in 1989. (At the same time in American, only GM, Ford, Exxon and IBM were bigger.) In getting there, KKR pioneered a new approach to management that was to revolutionise the American economy.' The Economist

• Introduction; 1. Context and overview; 2. Recasting the role of debt: creative leverage and buyout financing; 3. LBO governance and value creation; 4. When risk becomes real: managing buyouts in distress; 5. KKR as an institutional form: structure, function and character; Conclusion.

' … laudatory study of [KKR] by two business-school professors, one an economist by training the other an historian. From its formation in 1976, the firm of Jerome Kohlberg, Henry Kravis and George Roberts grew to control 59 billion dollars of assets in 35 companies in 1989. (At the same time in American, only GM, Ford, Exxon and IBM were bigger.) In getting there, KKR pioneered a new approach to management that was to revolutionise the American economy.' The Economist

• Introduction; 1. Context and overview; 2. Recasting the role of debt: creative leverage and buyout financing; 3. LBO governance and value creation; 4. When risk becomes real: managing buyouts in distress; 5. KKR as an institutional form: structure, function and character; Conclusion.